Rivers of Texas, The (The Brazos River)

DESCRIPTION: The singer lists the various rivers of Texas he has seen, noting that "Down by the Brazos I courted my dear." But now she has left him, and "I never will walk by the Brazos no more."AUTHOR: unknownEARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)KEYWORDS: love courting separation riverFOUND IN: US(MW,So)REFERENCES (3 citations):Randolph 201, "The Brazos River" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIVTEXAS*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 36, #3 (1991), pp, 72-73, "Down by the Brazos" (1 text, 1 tune, from the Scragg Family)Roud #4764RECORDINGS:Irene Carlisle, "The Brazos River" (AAFS-L30, 1942?)
Art Thieme, "Down by the Embarass" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme05)ALTERNATE TITLES:
Down by the Embarras (Illinois version)
The Rivers of GeorgiaNOTES [81 words]: Paul Stamler notes that there are "non-Texas" versions of this song (see the alternate titles), though I have never encountered them. I know that at least one modern "folk" composer has created a localized version; I suspect the traditional versions are of similar origin. Though I am not sure which is the original. - RBW
As far as I can tell, the Texas version was first. I also gather someone tried to rewrite it for Nebraska, but they didn't have enough rivers to finish a verse. - PJSLast updated in version 2.4File: R201